Leading and Listening


I've led a school whose faculty and students examine and discuss and debate every aspect of our law and legal system. And what I've learned most is that no one has a monopoly on truth or wisdom. I've learned that we make progress by listening to each other, across every apparent political or ideological divide.

— Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of America, Elena Kagan


With each week that passes, with every question asked and answered, my understanding of our community at CSW evolves. Every conversation adds more color to the tableau of CSW that I began painting from the moment I first stepped foot on campus as an applicant for head of school. 

When people ask me about my vision for CSW, I answer that my primary goals remain those articulated to me by the Board, faculty, and students during the search process. Since arriving this summer, I have been assessing our challenges and collective aspirations with a mind toward who — which individual or team — is best equipped to implement the changes we hope to make across all aspects of our community. I am committed to an environment wherein all voices are encouraged and all points of view heard, while, at the same time, maintaining the relational and collegial culture our school prides itself on fostering.   

If there is one thing I learned over the course of the search process, it is that everyone associated with CSW is passionate about the school in one way or another. When I received the phone call from trustees Sarita Shah ’86 and Rebecca Parkhill ’85, P’17 inviting me to become head of school, I felt deeply honored to be entrusted with such a community. I feel a profound sense of responsibility to alumni/ae, as the steward of their beloved alma mater, and to the current faculty, students, and parents, whose hopes and aspirations, both for themselves and for others, lead us to new heights of professionalism and creativity. 

My job is to lead, but it is also to listen. I have found the alumni/ae notes in The Gryphon an invaluable resource as I continue to learn more about CSW. In the most recent edition, I read about faculty member Taposhi Biswas’s research, in the course of which she asked the community in 2013 and again more recently, “What makes CSW what it is?” She went on to ask them to define their view of the single most important and defining aspect of our school. One of the quotes from Taposhi’s work, in which a student delineated what they loved most about CSW, the thing they never wanted to see change, struck a chord with me: “The freedom to be creative and to explore our own individual passions and interests.” In sum, this writer said,  “We should never get rid of the freedom to be ourselves, essentially.” 

I am grateful and excited to be at this very special institution where my education continues daily. Thank you so much for your warm welcome. I look forward to seeing many of you in a few weeks at our annual Family Visit Weekend!
 

The Cambridge School of Weston is a progressive high school for day and boarding students in grades 9–12 and PG. CSW's mission is to provide a progressive education that emphasizes deep learning, meaningful relationships, and a dynamic program that inspires students to discover who they are and what their contribution is to their school, their community and the world.